I agree. The third debate will be on foreign policy, expect low ratings for that. It will be of interest only to policy wonks. The swing state soccer moms will sleep right through it.
So the second debate will be the last big chance to change momentum, short of an October surprise.
This will be a tougher format for Romney, because there is less back and forth in townhall. It will allow Obama to get in more sound bite demagogic attacks without sufficient opportunity for rebuttal.
October surprise, you mean like, “oh, here’s Zawahiri, under this rock the whole time”